As part of the inflow and outflow cycles associated with the storage of Cold Compressed Natural Gas (CCNG) and other methane and non-methane cryogenic fluids in large storage vessels, (such as CCNG storage in solution-mined salt caverns), a great deal of refrigeration energy is stored in the cryogenic fluid which if not recovered during an outflow cycle of the CCNG, to a pipeline for example, would require significant amounts of refrigeration energy input during a subsequent inflow cycle of CCNG, from a pipeline for example.
The storage of CCNG in solution mined salt caverns is not a technology that has yet been deployed anywhere in the world. The cold recovery invention will allow the operation of CCNG storage caverns and CCNG pipelines to rely on smaller refrigeration units which will use less power, thus reducing the capital, financing, and operating costs of the entire CCNG storage and/or transport system and allowing the CCNG pipeline to be a cost-effective way of upgrading existing warm CNG pipelines, thus achieving significant increases in natural gas throughput. Thus, there is a need for recovery of refrigeration at CCNG storage sites.